On a day of rollercoasting fortunes at St James's Park, a sickening end for Alan Shearer and the Toon Army.

The question of whether this was a point gained or two lost should not be asked of the Newcastle captain.

With three minutes left and a ragged Newcastle trailing 2-1, he and his team-mates would have more than settled for a draw.

But having then headed home an equaliser himself and seen Clarence Acuna win a dubious injury-time penalty, victory suddenly became a must for Shearer and his adoring public.

So little wonder that both were inconsolable after he dragged his spotkick shockingly wide.

For once, the moment had got to the man regarded as the most cold-blooded finisher of the modern age.

And he, his team-mates and their manager must now dig deep into the resolve which has fuelled their incredible journey this season if the campaign is to have a fairytale ending.

They certainly looked to be running on empty for long periods yesterday in a game which owed its drama as much to incompetence as invention.

The incompetence was provided by United's back four and referee Mike Riley.

The invention belonged to the Magpies' mercurial Laurent Robert.

United's rocky rearguard must take full responsibility for the goals with which Marcus Bent twice put Ipswich ahead.

And Riley's equally culpable display saw him disallow a legitimate Shearer first-half strike and make a string of other mistakes culminating in the award of that last-gasp spotkick.

But Robert sandwiched a goal of mesmeric class between Bent's 50th and 63rd-minute efforts and provided an equally accomplished cross for Shearer's 88th-minute equaliser.

Amid the good and bad was also the ugly, with Robson's decision to substitute Jermaine Jenas and Nol Solano - two players performing to their potential - sparking fury on the terraces.

Even the fact that Kieron Dyer, back after a two-month absence, was one of the manager's chosen replacements did not improve the mood.

Dyer toiled through his 25-minute cameo as best he could after his latest lengthy lay-off.

But he looked as pedestrian as the pace at which Newcastle began both halves of the game.

In the first, they went unpunished for it. In the second, Bent made them pay.

Jamie Clapham brought a fine save from Shay Given after 15 seconds yet it took United eight minutes to put a worthwhile move together.

Robson's men briefly woke up and began to plot a path through a statuesque visiting back four, with Shearer wasting their best chance - a free header from Solano's corner.

But United spent much of the half struggling to keep their feet, let alone string passes together, on a slick surface.

It took a typically bold foray forward from Nikos Dabizas to relieve the boredom. The Greek reached the left byline and crossed for Solano to bring a full-length save from Matteo Sereni with a 10-yard header.

And the keeper was grateful that Carl Cort's 30th-minute effort - struck from 12 yards under pressure from John McGreal - was directed straight at him.

Cort then sent a flying header just wide and Shearer unleashed a spanking 25-yard drive which knocked Sereni off his feet as Newcastle finally found some fluency.

Cue Riley's first truly contentious decision. Shearer appeared to simply outmuscle McGreal in the race to meet a clearance from Given before lobbing a neat finish over Sereni.

Yet the referee - to widespread disgust - pulled Shearer back for a foul.

But frustration at half-time turned to consternation after the restart as United pressed the self-destruct button.

Bent would have been on the scoresheet before his 50th-minute opener had it not been for a last-ditch tackle by Sylvain Distin.

But there was no denying the striker when a flick from Marcus Stewart allowed him to spring the offside trap and finish through the legs of Given.

With Newcastle's attempts to get back on terms more anxious than assured, Robert's equaliser arrived like a proverbial bolt from the blue.

Mark Venus played his part by conceding a needless foul on Solano 25 yards out.

And Robert's use of the free-kick - curled left-footed into the top right-hand corner with Sereni a mere spectator - was exquisite.

But any thoughts of a handsome home victory were dispelled within three minutes.

A Sereni drop-kick was completely missed by Dabizas, miscontrolled by Andy O'Brien and Bent nipped in to beat a shellshocked Given from 10 yards.

Robson's response was to call Dyer from the dug-out - but at the expense of the outstanding Jenas.

The natives were no less impressed when Solano was sacrificed for Lomana Lua Lua 13 minutes from time.

In between, Shearer suffered the agony of having another goal chalked off - this time a far post header disallowed for a push on Makin.

But his misery was matched by that of Dabizas, who volleyed wide from five yards when picked out by Robert's 73rd-minute cross.

Once neither Jenas nor Solano were on the pitch, what shape Newcastle had boasted disappeared completely.

Yet their equaliser was wonderfully orthodox - Robert providing a cross from which Shearer powered home a header off the crossbar.

Then came the late, late drama which Shearer can only hope will not return to haunt him and his side.

Dabizas lofted a pass across the penalty area, Clarence Acuna went down under the suggestion of a challenge from Makin and Riley pointed to the spot.

The decision looked dubious but that its potential consequences were not lost on Shearer became clear when he dragged his penalty woefully wide of Sereni's right-hand post.

Only the final whistle - which followed immediately - broke the deathly silence which descended on St James's Park.